The Man Who Laughs
by MasterGhandalf
Summary: The Joker has come to Jump City on 'vacation', leaving chaos in his wake. Can the Titans stop him before he levels the town?


**601: The Man Who Laughs**

_Prologue_

The stillness of the night was broken with a suddenness that would have been literally breathtaking, had anyone been nearby to have their breath taken away. One moment this rundown and mostly abandoned portion of Jump City was absolutely quiet; with the exception of a few rats, nothing moved. The next a car came careening wildly down the street, straddling the middle of the road and moving at a speed that might be legal on a highway, but certainly not in the narrow city streets. Then with equal suddenness the car came to a screeching stop, giving the nonexistent observer a first chance to note its extremely garish green-and-purple paintjob.

If the car was an affront to any sort of rules regarding decency and good taste, it had nothing on the man who threw open the driver's side door and bonded out onto the street. Jump City was well-known as a haven for all manner of superhuman (and just plain crazy) activity; even by its standards, though, this man was an unusual sight. Perhaps it was his clothing, a green-and-purple ensemble that perfectly matched the car (though you would be hard-pressed to find anything else it matched.) Perhaps it was his neon-green hair, which stuck up, out, and back in a number of wild angles. But the man's strangest feature had to be his face- a face which, though some accident of birth or fate, bore a distinct resemblance to a deranged circus clown.

The man inhaled deeply through his nose, taking in the scents. "Ah," he breathed. "Decay, corruption, crime. Reminds me of home. Too bad it's just here, though- some of those downtown areas we drove through were just _nauseatingly_ shiny. But if everything was already falling to pieces there wouldn't be anything for me to do here, and that would just be no fun. You don't want me to get bored on my vacation, do you boys?"

"No, boss," chorused the reply from the three burly thugs piling out of the car. They might have had the look of mob hitmen, had it not been for their clown masks.

The first man paused for a moment to consider his reflection in the car's rear-view mirror, then shrugged and turned to face his henchmen. "Now boys, I know we're not staying in town long- don't want my adoring fanbase back home to star missing me- but before we're through, I want everyone in this town to be talking about me. I want to be the subject of urban legends and tall tales that'll take a hundred years to die down! Look out, Jump City. Joker's come to town, and I'm bringing enough excitement to set the whole city on fire. heeheeheehahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

_Cue Titans Theme._

_Part One_

The pizza was gone, bellies were full, and the Teen Titans were prepared to take a relaxing night off from their ongoing battle with the local collection of slime, scum, and psychopaths.

It had been a fairly routine evening- Starfire had prepared a meal for her friends about an hour earlier, but when she joyfully presented it to the team, no one had the heart to tell her that it resembled a mad scientist's experiment gone horrifically wrong far more than it did anything human beings might consider edible. It had been Cyborg who had tactfully suggested that they visit their favorite downtown pizza joint instead (Silkie had been in the process of eating Star's masterpiece when they left; the giant larva, at least, seemed to find it a delicacy).

Now Robin was finishing his soda and Starfire her mustard, while Raven was studying a spellbook and trying to ignore Beast Boy's increasingly frantic attempts to make her laugh. It was Cyborg, looking over the balcony, who noticed the first explosion.

"Trouble?" he asked, looking at Robin.

"Gotta be," the team leader replied. "Titans, GO!"

This was an absolutely _wonderful_ vacation, Joker thought to himself as he held up his fifth jewelry store of the evening. Gotham would always where his heart (such as it was) resided, but every so often a change of scenery was good for you- particularly when it was getting to where nearly every banker and store clerk in Gotham recognized him and tried to fork over cash without a fight, which really took the fun out of the whole thing. Sure, he always took the money, but it was more because people expected criminals to do it than because he had any real need for cash. Whatever the Joker wanted, he simply stole, regardless of price. No, his true love was listening to the wonderful sound of exploding buildings (or exploding people- he wasn't picky), or observing the terror on his poor victims' faces as he barged in, shooting up everything in sight and laughing like the lunatic he was.

Such happy thoughts, in fact, inspired Joker to a fresh bout of cackling as the terrified girl behind the counter stuffed more diamonds into the large sack he had provided. The look on her face was so priceless that he just laughed even harder- until suddenly a sharp red object embedded itself in the counter, forcing him to take a step back. The thing looked vaguely familiar, whatever it was- like something He would use, but that was impossible, He wouldn't be here… would He?

Joker had his answer when a young but firm voice from behind him said loudly, "You'd think that you people would have learned by now that stealing is-"

Whatever the boy had been going to say was cut off when Joker suddenly recognized the voice and burst out laughing even louder than before. Spinning dramatically on the spot and removing the hat that had hidden his unmistakable hair, the crazed criminal faced down a gang of five kids who were led by a very familiar figure- a figure whose eyes were wide with horror.

"Bird-brain!" Joker said happily. "Fancy meeting you here!"

Robin was stunned speechless. He knew the Joker of course- everyone from Gotham knew that face and laugh, but Robin had known it far better than most. After all, he had trained with the man responsible for bringing the clown-faced psycho to justice more times than anyone could count. But now the lunatic stood in front of him here, in Jump City, with Batman nowhere in sight and that crazed gleam in his eyes that meant that either a wedgie or an incredibly painful death was near. One could never really tell, with the Joker.

"Dude," Beast Boy whispered, breaking the silence. "Is that who I think it is?"

"It is," was all Robin could say.

"Robin? Who is this person, and how does he know you- and why does he call you the bird's brain?" Starfire asked innocently. She didn't understand- none of them did, really.

"Do mine ears deceive me?" Joker asked. "It seems the young lady is not acquainted with my illustrious career! Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Clown Prince of Crime, the Harlequin of Hate, the Ace of Knaves, the one, the only, Joker! You may applaud now," he added when it was apparent no applause was forthcoming.

"What he means, Starfire," Robin said, "is that he's the Joker. He may not look like much, but he's the most notorious crimelord in Gotham City- and the most wanted murderer on the eastern seaboard."

Joker's was horrified. "Most wanted murderer on the eastern seaboard? My, I seem to have been slacking lately! No matter. I'll just add you five to my tally and see how it goes from there. Boys, let's take 'em."

The frightened store employee dove behind the counter as Joker and his men all drew large and rather impressive looking firearms and began to blast away.

The criminals were fast- but Raven was faster. The instant that Joker opened fire here eyes blazed with white light and a shimmering bubble of shadow sprang into being around the Titans. Bullets bounced harmlessly away, and the Joker's face fell into an almost comical frown.

"Yikes!" Beast boy said. "Who actually uses machine guns anymore? I thought lasers were the hot new thing for scumbags who wanted to blow stuff up?"

Robin shook his head. "Joker never was one for convention."

"Robin, if you're going to do something, do it now," Raven said in a strained voice. "I can't keep this up much longer."

"Raven's right," the team leader agreed. "Let's show the clown how we fight crime in this town. Titans, GO!"

Raven's shield broke- but when it did, the only Titans still there were the sorceress herself and Cyborg, who stood in front of her using his metal body as a shield. Raising one hand to protect his face, the half-robot hero held is other straight out in front of him, and it morphed into a wide-mouthed cannon.

"You guys are so proud of those antiques, but they've got nothing on modern tech!" The mouth of the cannon glowed blue for a moment and then cut loose with a burst of concentrated soundwaves. One thug was thrown back against a wall, where he lay, moaning and clutching his head.

"Boo-yah." It was all that needed to be said, really.

Joker himself had just turned to make a hasty exit when he found his way blocked by a most unusual sight- a giant green hippo sitting in front of the shop door. Deciding to take the bizarre apparition in stride- this town _did_ have a reputation for attracting weirdness, and so, for that matter, did Joker himself- he simply marched up too it.

The hippo opened its huge mouth and let loose with a sound halfway between grunt and roar, as well as a blast of the worst breath that the Joker had ever had the misfortune to smell. Closing its huge maw, the creature appeared to make ready to charge when Joker raised a squirt bottle and sprayed its contents directly into the hippo's eyes.

What happened next was so entertaining that Joker almost felt he had to pause and watch. The hippo transformed suddenly into the little green kid, who lay on the ground shouting insults while trying to rub the streaming tears from his eyes.

"Little tip, kid- use a washcloth," Joker said as a parting shot as he prepared to make for his getaway car. The vehicle in question, however, suddenly glowed _black_, if such a thing were possible, and levitated into the air, just as Robin and the girl who hadn't known who Joker was landed where it had been.

"I don't know what you're doing here, but you're going back to Arkham- for good this time," Robin intoned dramatically. The whole thing was so amusing that Joker almost doubled over, he was laughing so hard.

"_Batman_ couldn't keep me locked up, bird-brain, and you're a cheap knockoff at best. It'd be better for all of us if you just quit while you're ahead and toddle off home."

Robin didn't answer; instead he threw a number of the red-bladed _things_ Joker had noticed earlier, while the girl raised her hands and sent a pair of green-glowing somethings flying at him. Light on his feet, Joker dodged every one of the projectiles- and then returned a few of his own. Razor-edged playing cards went flying through the air, guided by Joker's unerring aim. That would teach bird-brain and his little girlfriend from bothering him ever…

How was this happening? One moment the cards were flying towards their targets; the next they were zooming into the hands of the other girl, the one in the hooded cloak. She looked at them contemptuously and dropped them on the pavement.

"Maybe _you're _the one who needs to quit," she said in a voice that was quiet but forceful.

"Yeah," another voice agreed, and Joker spun to see the half-man, half robot creature and the green kid glaring daggers at him. "We got your goon squad all tied up, and you're gonna be joining 'em. This can be hard or easy- you're choice."

"Nobody squirts gunk at my eyes and gets away with it," the green kid added in a surprisingly menacing voice, and then spontaneously transformed into a velociraptor.

"Ah, well, it's been a lovely evening, but it looks like this job requires a bit more manpower." Joker shook his head in mock sadness. "We'll have to do this again sometime. But you're wrong about one thing- I do have somewhere to go." With that he pulled what appeared to be a pogo stick from inside his coat and mounted it. Engines that no actual pogo stick had ever possessed roared to life, and then the Joker was streaking off into the sky, laughing madly as he went.

Then the stick shuddered as something thunked into it, and Joker looked back to see bird-brain dangling from a grappling hook behind him. But he'd planned for this. It was one of His favorite tricks, after all.

"No hitchhiking!" Joker called and pressed a button on his pogo stick. Bird-brain's grappler cable suddenly sparked with electricity and released, sending the teenage martial artist plunging to the ground below. The readhead girl caught him, though. Pity.

Suddenly Joker felt a wind blow past his head, and looked up in time to see a green hawk wheeling around again for a better-aimed strike. Then the air shimmered darkly and the girl in the cloak stepped out in midair and hovered in front of the flying pogo-stick. Joker brought it to a halt and regarded her.

"Robin seems to think you're someone dangerous," she said in that soft voice of hers, "but all I see is a garden-variety lunatic like a dozen I've seen before. It ends now."

It occurred to Joker then that this girl really would look much more cheerful if only she would put a smile on her face. So he decided to do it for her.

Beast Boy pulled out of his dive when he saw Joker reach up to the flower pinned on his shirt and spray something purple all over Raven's face. The half-demon sorceress hovered shakily for a moment, coughing, and then fell from the sky.

Joker was forgotten. Yes Raven teased him and told him to turn his music down and wouldn't play video games with him, but she was still his friend! Shifting to a pteranodon, he dove from the sky and caught her before she hit the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, Beast Boy changed back to himself and lay Raven down gently on the sidewalk.

"You okay?" He asked. "What'd he do to you?"

Then something happened that Beast Boy had seen maybe once before. Raven turned slowly to look at him, and then her mouth split into a wide smile and she began to laugh at the top of her lungs.

_Part 2_

"Robin," Starfire said as she gently deposited the team leader on the ground, "are you unharmed?"

"I'm a little sore from where he zapped me," Robin admitted, "but you caught me in time to keep anything permanent from happening. Thanks a lot."

"It was nothing," Starfire said, blushing.

"Robin! Help!" Beast Boy's voice echoed loudly down the street. Spinning towards the sound, Robin dashed towards his friend- and found Beast Boy kneeling on the ground, cradling a madly laughing Raven.

"What's the matter with her, Robin?" the changeling asked frantically. "I've been trying to get her laugh for years, and all this creep has to do is spray some gunk on her. What'd he do?"

"Poison," Robin said darkly. "Joker's home brew- I've seen it before. That madman can't think of anything funnier than making his enemies laugh themselves to death."

"But you can help her, right?" There was a desperate look in Beast Boy's eyes.

"I've got some antidote at the tower. Cyborg!" he shouted, "we need the T-car. We need to get Raven home- before it's too late."

Later that night, a truly disreputable crew gathered in one of Jump City's abandoned warehouses. Thuggish, brutal men and women, dressed in dirty clothing and fingering their knives and guns. They were the city's 'normal' underworld, and had long since become obsolete with the overflow of supervillains. Even the nastiest mobsters knew to steer clear when Cinderblock, for example, would come stomping through downtown on one of Slade's errands.

But tonight someone had called them all together, someone none of them had ever seen, but who claimed to have a plan to bring the city to its knees. And so they had come, partially because they were determined to make this city pay, and partly because they had nothing better to do.

Not all of them were happy, however. One musclebound man with blue lightning bolts tattooed on his arms seemed to have come only to complain. "You're all chumps for thinkin' that whoever this guy is, he can dig us out of our hole," he said, getting into the face of the man next to him. "You wanna take this town back, I'm the guy to do it. You all," he raised his voice, "listen up. You follow Johnny Rancid, he'll lead you right."

"Aw, shaddup Johnny," an older gang member shouted. "We've heard it all before. You're nothing but wind. We all know how the Titans bag you every time."

"Yeah, but I've watched 'em, see," said Johnny eagerly, "I know all their tricks- way better than some looser from-"

A loud bang filled the room. Johnny looked down at himself in horror to see the dart sticking out of his chest, and then without a sound of complaint, he crumpled to the floor and lay still. All eyes turned to the doorway, and the bizarre figure who stood there, blowing the smoke from his gun.

"You see, boys and girls," the man said in conversational tones, "If you're gonna be badmouthing your dear old Uncle Joker, then somebody's going to get hurt." He strolled casually into the room, pausing to look down at Johnny Rancid's body. "Now Johnny here has learned his lesson- haven't you, Johnny?" When he received no answer, Joker shrugged. "Oh, well. He seemed boring anyway."

Joker strolled to the front of the room and then turned to look at his audience, a mad light gleaming in his eyes. "Now listen closely, kiddos- and don't interrupt, if you know what's good for you. I know how you're all feeling- you're outclassed by whatever superpowered freak gets unleashed on this city next, and you're no match at all for the lousy team of superpowered kids that's set up shop here, and between them all you're not making any kind of profit at all. But I'm here to change all that. Together, friends, we're going to make this town howl!"

Joker reached into his coat and dug around for a minute, finally pulling out a wrinkled-up newspaper. Straightening it out, he held it up so that everyone in the room could see the headline. "Now see here- the mayor is holding a campaign fundraiser tomorrow night. All the wealthiest people in town will be there. We're gonna hit them hard, with everything we've got, and when we walk out, no one will ever make us for a joke again- and we'll all be rich to boot! Who's with me?"

"What's to stop the Titans from showing up and putting a stop to this," the old gang leader put in.

"I said NO INTERRUPTING!" Joker shouted- and then he was smiling again. "As I was about to explain, my dear friends, I have everything under control…"

Raven lay motionless on a bed in the Tower's medical wing- but she was just sleeping now, no longer in danger. Robin's stash of Joker anti-toxin had done its work before the damage became permanent. Raven would live.

"It's lucky you had that stuff, man," Cyborg said to Robin as the team stood outside of the medical-wing door.

"Not luck," Robin said darkly. "Batman always said to be prepared for anything, and I always tried to take his advice. I just wasn't expecting the Joker to show up here."

"Yeah," Beast Boy put in. "I mean, who really expects a homicidal clown to poison someone with laughing gas? I mean, it sounds like something out of a TV show, or something."

"Please Robin," Starfire asked," who is this 'Joker' really? I had not heard of him."

"He's a madman, Starfire- probably the most dangerous lunatic alive today. He's obsessed with chaos- his goal in life is to cause as much havoc as is humanly possible. He doesn't care who he hurts or kills in the process- and he does it all with a smile on his face."

Starfire stared in horror. "So, those robberies- they were not because he wanted the jewels?"

"Oh, I'm sure he wanted them," Robin muttered. "But he would have attacked even if they were lumps of coal. The thrill of the crime and the look on his victims' faces- that's all he cares about. He's not like a normal criminal at all- he's much more dangerous than that."

"I'll believe that," said a weak voice from the doorway. They all turned to see Raven standing there, wobbly on her feet and looking paler than usual, but definitely alive.

"Raven- you are safe!" Starfire shouted and tackled Raven in a Tamaranean hug- which meant that Raven wouldn't have been safe for long if Cyborg and Beast Boy hadn't pulled Star off her. The alien princess often forgot her own strength.

"I don't think that I will ever get the taste of that stuff out of my mouth," Raven said after getting back to her feet. "And the things I saw while I was out- it was like I saw into his mind. He's like a demon, Robin- all he cares about is destruction. We have to stop him."

"I know." Robin turned to Cyborg. "Joker loves the spotlight- he wants to be seen committing his crimes, so that everyone will know that it was him who was responsible- and he likes making the biggest scores possible. Plug into the network and see if you can find anything that he might want to hit."

"On it," Cyborg said. A cable snaked out of his chest plate and plugged into the wall, and Cyborg's eyes glazed over as his mind went hurtling down the endless pathways of cyberspace. After a few moments the cable retracted and his eyes refocused. "I think I've found just the thing, Robin- the Mayor's holding a fundraising bash for all the rich guys in town. I'm betting he's gonna have some uninvited guests."

"When is it?"

"Tonight."

Robin hit his fists together. "All right, team- we have less than twelve hours to get ready. And I have a plan."

The Mayor was quite pleased with the way his party had turned out. He'd gained several endorsements and earned a great deal of goodwill, and all in all things were looking up for his campaign next year. He was just rising to give his speech when the doors of the ballroom were rudely thrown open and what looked like a dozen hoodlums barged in, armed to the teeth and led by- surely that wasn't a clown?

Before he had time to contemplate this mystery further, the Mayor felt a gun poking into his back; turning his head half around, he saw that several members of his own staff had drawn weapons and were pointing them at the guests. Either they'd been bribed or- replaced. The mayor gulped and did the wise thing- he fell down on his knees and hoped to heaven that these maniacs didn't kill him!

The clown-face leader strode forward and fired a few rounds into the air. "Good evening, ladies and gentle-men!" he called. "'We are tonight's _entertainment._"

_Part 3_

Joker was having the time of his life. Of course, he thought that every time he committed a big crime, but that made it no less true. Tonight, in particular, put him in fond memory of another fundraiser he had attacked, years ago- for a certain Harvey Dent, he recalled. That had been fun. So was this, for that matter- the look on the women's faces as he sorted through their precious jewelry, judged it worthless, and tossed it all out the window was priceless, as was what he had done to the police officers assigned to protect the Mayor. They were laying in a corner now, choking feebly as his nerve gas worked its course. In about half an hour, a few more smiles would be added to the world, and who wouldn't want that?

Joker had lifted the Mayor by the collar, and was eagerly anticipating spending the next few minutes listening to the man's frenzied pleading while he thought up something truly nasty to do to him, when a red something came hurling down from the ceiling and struck the back of his hand. Joker dropped the Mayor, who scuttled away in fear; clutching his wounded hand, he looked up to see those wretched, meddling teenagers standing on the edge of the open skylight.

"It ends tonight, clown," Robin growled.

"And it will- but not for me. Boys, fire!" The local goons, hearing their boss's order, raised their weapons and began pounding away at the Titans- to little avail. The witch-girl called up another ball of darkness around them, shielding them from the ammo as they gently lowered to the ballroom floor. Then the darkness broke, and the girl collapsed, coughing- apparently still weak from her run in with Joker's toxin. But the other Titans made up for her weakness- the green one had become an elephant and the goons were fleeing from its sweeping trunk and tusks, bird-brain's biradarangs were shooting through the air, disarming every criminal they could find; the redhead was shooting glowing green bolts left and right; and the robot-man had changed one of his arms into some sort of gun and was doing the same.

But Joker hadn't learned nothing from his battles with Him- he'd come prepared. The robo-freak was closest, so he became the first to feel the clown's wrath.

Reaching into a hidden pocket, Joker drew out a small gun with what appeared to be a suction cup in its barrel. Targeting the robot, he fired- and behind the 'suction cup' trailed a long wire. When it hit the machine-man's chest, a charge shot through it, powerful enough to kill a grown man. In robo-freak's case, it fried many of his systems, sending him crashing to the floor in a lifeless husk.

"Take that, kid," Joker growled. "Two down, three to go." Looking around at the wreckage of the ballroom, Joker could see that his goons were getting mowed down at a phenomenal rate. He smiled insanely to himself, and couldn't resist a small giggle. It was time for his final plan.

Joker dashed out a side entrance and hurried up the stairs. Once he reached the roof of the building, he would easily be able to jump to the next one- of course there was a risk that he would fall, but that was what made it fun- and then he would trigger the bomb his men had hidden underneath the building. When it went, the Titans would go too. Joker couldn't help but laugh at the thought- they would be standing there, triumphant, and then BAM! They would be dead, along with Jump city's elite.

Joker reached the roof and looked around. Excellent- the roof was empty. They hadn't seen him, hadn't followed him. Now all it would take was- he paused and blinked, but still couldn't believe his eyes.

The batsignal shone in the skies above Jump City, brilliantly, impossibly. It couldn't be Him- He was half a continent away, wasn't He? And why would He bring the blasted thing with Him, anyway? I really must be going crazy, Joker thought, and had to suppress a chuckle. I'm seeing things now! Yes, that must be it. So comforted by this thought was the Joker that it never occurred to him to wonder when the light from the Batsignal had ever been green.

Joker walked merrily over to the edge of the building, humming a jaunty little tune to himself. Looking down the several-hundred-foot drop to the streets below without fear, Joker climbed up onto the ledge and prepared to spring- when suddenly he felt something brush past his ear, and nearly lost his balance. Looking back at the flying thing, he blinked again and rubbed his eyes- was that a bat?

Suddenly the air around him was filled with smoke. Joker stumbled back onto the firmer footing of the roof, but now he couldn't see anything at all but swirling fog. And in the fog, he heard footsteps- and a swishing cape.

"Show yourself, you moron!" Joker shouted. "Let me get one good look at you and I'll give you a reason to hide." He reached into his coat pocket and drew out his spear gun, holding it at the ready.

And then the smoke cleared, and a figure stood there, taller than Joker by a head, wrapped all in black except for the pair of burning white eyes that blazed beneath its cowl. The figure silently glided forward, cloak flowing behind it like the wings of night, and Joker knew that it was Him. Batman had come to Jump City.

"So," Joker said, smiling, "you tracked me all the way here just to spoil my fun? I'm flattered you think so highly of me, batsy! But I'm afraid your protégé has an appointment with a whole bundle of explosives, so I must be running." The Joker flung one arm out and a switchblade knife appeared in it. "But I'm taking you down first!" Laughing like the madman that he was, Joker lunged at the dark figure- only to have it break apart as if it had never been there at all.

"What in the name of…" Joker managed to say before a staff came out of nowhere and cracked down on the back of his head. Stumbling around, Joker saw bird-brain standing there in the mists, a staff held in each hand. It was then that the Clown Prince of Crime realized that he'd been had.

"Kids grow up so fast, these days," Joker said weakly, and then he collapsed in a heap.

Robin stared down at the unconscious psychopath before him, and collapsed his staves back into his belt. Checking to make sure that Joker was really out, he turned and saw each of his teammates emerge from hiding. Starfire had seen Joker leave the room, and then Raven had teleported them to the roof, where they quickly laid their trap.

Starfire, a cellophane wrapper decorated with a bat over one hand, had provided the batsignal; Beast Boy had been the bat that had flown past Joker's ear; the clouds of mist had come from Cyborg's built in smoke machine; and Raven had summoned the shadows that had played the part of Batman. And all of it had kept the Joker well and truly spooked, so that he did not notice the Titans lying in wait until it was too late.

"Then we are victorious, Robin?" Starfire asked.

"Yes, Starfire. We are. Now," he smiled, 'let's drop him off with the police and make sure that the Mayor's all right- and then I think we're all in desperate need of some dinner."

The other Titans gave their unanimous assent.

"Wretched, dirty kids! When I get my hands on them, I'll-" unfortunately, Joker found himself unable to vocalize precisely what he wanted to do to Bird-brain and his pathetic little friends, as he had so many different and equally sadistic ideas, and simply couldn't bear to choose between them. That was the drawback of genius, he supposed.

Of course, genius was helped by the fact that his enemies were a bunch of fools. They had left him with the city police, but he still had some laughing gas in his flower. One brief spurt of that, and the van that transported him was his for the taking- and now he was taking it far beyond the city limits, back to Gotham, where there weren't any meddling teenagers to mess with a battle between the Clown Prince and his great nemesis, where things made sense (or at least, the Joker variation of sense.)

Inspiration struck him then, and he knew exactly what hideous fate he had in store for the Batman next time they met. Laughing uproariously, Joker put Jump City behind him, casually broke the speed limit, pancaked a sports car that happened to be in the way, and drove off into the rising sun.


End file.
